Flea-market find solves history mystery
2004-06-27
By David Zizzo
The Oklahoman

TAHLEQUAH -- When a piece of rusty iron caught Floyd Lyerla's eye, he had no
idea his discovery 12 years ago at a Tulsa flea market would solve a mystery
that began decades earlier at a Delaware County cemetery.

Stand Watie

Legend has it that Brig. Gen. Stand Watie was supernaturally immune to injury.
No gun could kill him and no human was capable of dealing him a mortal wound.
It's said around northeastern Oklahoma that the noted Civil War leader never
received so much as a scratch.

Jackie Marteney, Mariee Wallace Museum curator
with the Delaware County Historical Society, provides some history of
Watie, his family and contemporaries, largely gleaned from the book
"Heritage of the Hills."

After the Civil War, Watie retired from public
life. He already had lost two sons to illness, and his youngest son died
while a refugee in Texas.

Watie engaged for a time in the mercantile business in Webbers Falls. He later
moved to his farm near Bernice, where he spent his remaining years.

Watie became ill while looking after some of his property on Honey Creek, just
outside Grove. He died Sept. 9, 1871, and was buried with Masonic honors in the
Polson Cemetery, formerly known as the Ridge Cemetery, about 15 miles east of
Grove and Jay.

The Trail of Tears

Resting near Watie are several men who gathered in 1836 under an oak tree near
the Oostanaula River in Georgia to sign the Treaty of New Echota. Watie, Major
Ridge, John Ridge, Elias Boudinot and other Cherokee advocates signed the
treaty, wanting to move to a new home. By 1839, the remainder of the Cherokees
were forced to move west, resulting in the Trail of Tears.

The Ridges and Boudinot were assassinated June 22, 1839. John Ridge was buried
about 150 yards from his house on Honey Creek, in a yard that later was known as
Polson Cemetery. Major Ridge's remains were moved to Polson Cemetery in 1856.

What began as a small family cemetery with the burial of John Ridge eventually
was set aside as a public cemetery in 1907. Watie's two daughters, M. Daniel
(Ninny) and Jessie Watie, died in 1875; his wife, Sarah Bell Watie, in 1883.
They were buried on Mockingbird Hill on Monkey Island.

In 1968, their remains, along with those of an infant son, Daniel, and other
relatives, were moved from the abandoned family cemetery and placed with Watie
at the Polson Cemetery.

In December 1971, the Oklahoma Historical Society erected another marker
honoring Watie at the Polson Cemetery. Dedication ceremonies were held May 28,
1972.

By Staff Writer Sheila K. Stogsdill

"I happened to notice this very old-appearing, cast-iron object on a table,"
said Lyerla, a history and archeology buff from Pittsburg, Kan.

Saturday, that artifact -- a 25-pound "iron cross of honor" that once marked the
grave of controversial Cherokee leader Stand Watie -- was returned to the
Cherokee Nation in a ceremony in Tahlequah.

The cross presentation will highlight a ceremony at the Cherokee Heritage Center
that will include a Civil War re-enactment camp and volleys from cannon of that
era. A final resting place for the cross has not been decided.

It might end up as part of a veterans memorial at the Cherokee Tribal Complex,
said Richard Fields, director of the Cherokee Heritage Center. A replica has
been placed at the Watie gravesite near Grove.

The ceremony will mark the end of a long journey for the old cross.

Historians say that and many similar crosses provided by the Daughters of the
Confederacy as memorials for prominent figures probably were stolen. The Watie
cross, placed on his grave in Delaware County sometime before World War I,
probably disappeared in the years after the war, historians say.

Unraveled by accident

Watie, who was born in Georgia, became a leader of the relocated Cherokee Nation
in the Oklahoma Territory and commanded the Confederate forces of the tribe
during the Civil War, becoming the last Confederate general to surrender.

Lee Matous, a Civil War history buff in Hot Springs, Ark., unwittingly began the
unraveling of the cross mystery. About 18 months ago, Matous was at an auction
when he heard that someone in Kansas had bought an authentic Civil War cannon
from a museum.

A paralegal and a collection agency investigator, Matous eventually located
Lyerla, who invited him to see the cannon. Matous contacted another member of
the local Sons of Confederate Veterans group, Bob Freeman, who traveled to
Lyerla's home last year.

Significant find

Freeman said he was disappointed to find the cannon was an old "signal cannon"
that was not Confederate. But Lyerla told him, "I have something else that might
interest you."

He led Freeman to his basement shop, where the cross had been kept for more than
a decade.

"It was on the floor leaning against his work table," Freeman recalled. He
recognized it instantly.

"This is the cross that went on Stand Watie's grave," Freeman told Lyerla.

Knowing the cross had some historical significance
because of Watie's name on it, Lyerla had paid $500 at the flea market. He
figured it was an emblem that probably hung outside a meeting hall.

"He knew it was a rare cross, but he didn't know how rare," Freeman said.

Through the years, Lyerla said, he declined offers from collectors, hoping it
would someday wind up with someone who could appreciate whatever its true
meaning was.

Lyerla sold the cross for $800 -- his investment plus interest, he figures -- to
the Arkansas group. That group is donating it to the Cherokee Nation.

It's like the theme of Saturday's ceremony, Matous said. "It's a matter of
honor."

Bill Baker with descendants of Stand's brother Elias Boudinot and
descendants of Major Ridge's son John Ridge and daughter Sarah (Ridge) Paschal

1995 Civil War Stamp of Stand Watie

Cherokee Nation Tribal Council member
Bill John Baker speaks after accepting the iron cross taken years ago from
Brigadier Gen. Stand Watie's grave. Listening to Baker's comments are
representatives of the James M. Keller Camp from Hot Springs, Ark., the
United Daughters of the Confederacy, Cherokee Heritage Center Director
Richard Fields, seated, and, right, Wayne Coleman, commander of the Oklahoma
Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Coleman represents the
Cherokee Creek brigade.

It's a matter of honor.

By Bob Gibbins, Press Staff WriterMonday, June 28, 2004 11:04 AM CDT

That was the driving message Saturday during a
presentation that ended with the James M. Keller Camp returning the iron cross
taken from the grave of Brigadier Gen. Stand Watie to the Cherokee Nation.
Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor Bill John Baker accepted the cross for display
in the tribal museum on the grounds of the Heritage Center.

"We are standing here as ghosts of the confederacy," said Lee Matous, of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans of the James M. Keller Camp in Hot Springs, Ark.
"The Daughters of the Confederacy are our hearts and souls."

Matous said it was an honor to be able to return Watie's cross.

"It's an honor to be able to accept this cross on behalf of the Cherokee
Nation," Baker said. "We appreciate the Keller camp locating the cross and
returning it to the Cherokee Nation.

The presentation was part of a rededication of the original Southern Iron Cross
of Honor that was placed on Watie's grave. The Sons of the Confederate Veterans
and Daughters of the Confederacy joined representatives of the Military Order of
Stars and Bars in honoring the last confederate general to survive.

The Cherokee Heritage Center grounds resembled the grounds of a civil war
battlefield with tents, soldiers and cannons covering the grounds.

"This is the thrill of my life," she said. "I've done this [played Watie's
widow] for eight years. I've mainly been involved in re-enactments."

Troy Poteete, a former tribal council member and a tribal historian, bid the
crowd greetings from the Little Dixie of the Cherokee Nation, Webbers Falls. He
said Webbers Falls was Watie's last home and the town has a street named after
the famed confederate general. He also said the Cherokee Braves flag flies as
the town's official flag.

"Webbers Falls is the southern most part of
the Cherokee Nation geographically," he said. "It's also the southern most
culturally, economically and politically."

Jimmy Langley and his family occupied one of the tents on the Heritage Center
grounds. They said surgeries were performed on tables, tarps on the grounds and
other locations. Doctors then treated everything from measles, pregnancy and
battle wounds.

"You had a better chance to survive in Indian Territory," Darla Langley said.
"The Indians taught us how to treat wounds and gave some treatments
[anecdotes]."

Richard Fields, director of the Cherokee Heritage Center, said he was pleased
the center was chosen to host the event.

"The Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy have an
important story to tell," he said. "Stand Watie is an important aspect of that
story."

Speakers said Watie deserved a great deal of homage and recognized him as the
only confederate general to achieve all of the instructions given to him in
Richmond, Va.

Members of Watie's niece, Mabel Washbourne Anderson's family were also named
honorary Arkansas Travelers. Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckaby signed off on the
certificates presented by the James M. Keller Camp.

Presentation by the Cherokee Honor Guards, Wichita, Kansas

INVOCATION

PLEDGE OF ALLIGENCE TO U.S. FLAG

“I Pledge Alligence,
to the Flag, of the United States of America; and to the Republic, of which it
Stands, One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty, and Justice for All.”

SALUTE TO THE CONFEDERATE FLAG

“We Salute, to the
Confederate Flag, with Affection, Reverence, and Undying Devotion, to the Cause
for Which it Stands.”

SINGING OF “DIXIE” (all welcome to sing)

Oh, I wish I was in
the Land of cotton, ole times there not forgotten,
Look Away! Look
Away! Look Away, Dixie Land.
In Dixie Land where I
was born, early on a frosty mornin,
Look Away! Look
Away! Look Away, Dixie Land.
Oh, I wish I was in
Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixieland I’ll
take my Stand, to Live and Die in Dixie…
Away! Away! Away
Down South in Dixie!
Away! Away! Away
Down South>>>>>>>>>In Dixie!!!!!
GREETINGS/INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Mr. Jeff Massey –
Commander General of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars (MOSB)/Fmr.
Commander of the Brig. Gen. Stand Watie Camp #1303, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

PRESENTATION(S)

Acceptance by the
Cherokee Nation by Representatives Ms. Mary Ellen Meridth and Mr. Richard
Fields; Presentations by Representatives of the James M. Keller Camp #648, Hot
Springs, Arkansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma Divisions Sons of Confederate Veterans,
Arkansas and Oklahoma Presidents of the United Daughters of the Confederacy

PREPARATION OF
CONFEDERATE SALUTE

Order given to the
Army of the Confederacy to prepare for complete Confederate Salute. Host will
announce Infantry, Calvary, and Artillery Regiments/Company/Battery and
Representation by State during this short preparation.

CONFEDERATE SALUTE
TO BRIG. GEN. STAND WATIE

Will last
approximately 12-15 minutes.

Special Guest
_______________ will perform Cherokee period Flute Music during the Salute

CLOSING BENEDICTION

By
______________________, of the _________________ Church, Tahlequah, Oklahoma